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close your eyes for a second
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back to the last time you experienced
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great customer service
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was it at a restaurant with a few
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friends maybe the wait staff was really
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friendly was it at a department store
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where their knowledge helped you choose
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exactly what you needed or maybe it was
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after waiting on hold for quite a long
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time and the associate went out of their
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way to help you resolve a nagging
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problem
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thanks for holding each of these
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interactions might only last a few
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minutes but within that short time they
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can have a huge impact they can build
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brand loyalty better than any commercial
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they can turn someone's day around
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and for people who have chosen to work
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in customer service they are extremely
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gratifying
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we've built this course to help you
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level up your customer service skill set
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by the end of this video I hope you'll
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have a stronger understanding of what
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makes for great customer service as well
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as a few new tips and tricks that you
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can start using immediately
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at its core customer service is composed
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of half a dozen skills and practices
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that help you address customer needs and
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Foster a positive experience
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these skills will help you no matter if
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you work in a call center a department
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store a restaurant or really anywhere
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else so let's get into them
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first there is the practice of active
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listening the difference between plain
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old listening and active listening is
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intentionality listening becomes active
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when you prepare yourself to listen when
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you really focus on both the verbal and
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non-verbal language that's being
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communicated and when you respond in
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such a way that makes the speaker feel
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heard and validated
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that's the recipe I've got to tell you
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I've been transferred to like five
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different customer service agents and
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I'm getting really frustrated no one can
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give me a straight answer about what to
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do I can only imagine how difficult and
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frustrating that is I'm really sorry
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this is happening please tell me why
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you're calling today okay so the tile
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order arrived and some of my tiles here
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are broken so you sent me replacement
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tiles but the colors don't match I guess
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it's from a different dye lot whatever
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that is but no one ever asked me for
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that information okay thank you for
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explaining that so it sounds like you've
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got two different tile colors for one
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job do I have that right
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in a customer service scenario active
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listening communicates the message your
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problem is now my problem I hear you
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let's fix it
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some members of customer service teams
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often have a cue to help them get into
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the active listening Zone a call service
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agent might put on their headset start
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new ticket and say thank you so much for
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holding how can I help a retail team
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member might turn towards the customer
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center their weight Bend both knees and
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lean in just a bit practice active
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listening by getting in and out of the
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mindset again this is a habit that you
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form with intentionality
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another customer service skill is
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empathy
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let's be honest you're not always going
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to be dealing with people at their best
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moment you know like when a customer
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unloads on you because something is
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priced wrong or isn't scanning properly
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it's not about you that customer is just
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offloading you've got to remember that
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it's not personal or else you won't be
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able to really hear what they have to
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say you'll just hear how they're saying
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it maybe you haven't been in their exact
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situation yourself but if you try I bet
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you can identify with their challenges
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and when you can relate to just a sliver
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of that experience you empathize empathy
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makes customers feel understood and
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cared for
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don't worry I got you
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the third critical skill for customer
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service is the ability to problem solve
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look you've got to be on your toes
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during moments of crises you may have a
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customer who overshares their luggage
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didn't arrive and the flight was late
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and the car overheated and this is the
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third time in two years that this has
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happened
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so what do you do to begin identify the
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problem
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what a difficult day I am so sorry this
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is happening so the problem now is that
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your luggage is missing do I have that
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right next generate some solutions pick
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the one that works best and get started
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all right we've got a few different
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options but the best approach is to get
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a trace going that'll get you reunited
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with your luggage as fast as possible
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let me start the process
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and finally evaluate the results and if
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appropriate ask for feedback I am so
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relieved your luggage is on the next
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flight we'll have it delivered to your
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hotel by 8 pm tonight
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of course you can have lots of empathy
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and problem solving and active listening
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skills but if you can't communicate
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effectively they're not worth much at
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least not to a member of a customer
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service team effective communication is
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harder than it sounds it requires having
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an emotional balance and Technical
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knowledge of the products or services
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that you provide it also requires a
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clear voice written or oral that is
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simultaneously personable and
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professional
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here are a few ways you can start
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practicing your effective communication
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skills right now to begin when you're in
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dialogue with someone start to include
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small encouraging comments into what
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you're saying
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next wait to respond make sure you let
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the person complete their entire thought
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before you start to speak
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and finally acknowledge the emotions
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that the other person is expressing it
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might be frustration excitement or
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bewilderment let them know that you see
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it and you recognize it
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as a customer service representative you
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are often the initial point of contact
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between a customer and the company which
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means you have to know the correct
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protocol for responding to a ton of
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different situations got a question
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about an open box return that gets
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transferred to the returns department
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got a customer whose account is locked
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because of non-payment well that goes to
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the billing department
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got a frustrated customer who is
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demanding to speak to the manager yep
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you guessed it that gets escalated to
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your manager's queue to guide your
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decision making most companies will give
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their customer service team members a
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flowchart
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flowchart is a diagram that represents
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different workflows they might be called
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step-by-step diagrams or maybe a process
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chart but regardless of the name they
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typically show a series of conditional
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statements with different outline
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processes depending on the answer
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to be honest they kind of look like
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Shoots and Ladders or um maybe that's
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just me
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foreign
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last but not least I would definitely
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recommend that you take the time to
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learn about the products or services
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I can guarantee you that at one point or
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another a customer is going to ask which
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warranty package you think is a better
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value whether or not they should buy the
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sanded or unsanded grout or what the
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differences are between the synthetic
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fabric and the cotton blend having a
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baseline knowledge about your products
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or services will help you address your
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customers needs quickly and accurately
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so how can you get better at customer
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service aside from gaining more
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experience
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I would consider asking for direct
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feedback from customers colleagues and
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managers this can help you understand
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whether or not you're providing a great
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experience for your customers and what
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you can do to improve remember not to
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take any negative feedback personally
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you are not your work
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your work is your craft
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and like any master of craft your goal
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is to get better and better
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also try and track down any customer
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service evaluation forms or surveys they
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may be about you or they may be more
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broadly about the store or the products
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and services either way this feedback
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will give you a unique perspective
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compared to what you'll often hear from
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management or colleagues and finally
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practice practice practice your new
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skills
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so the next time you're engaging with a
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customer try really bringing your A game
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the tips included here can really help
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practice active listening also put
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yourself in the customer's shoes it'll
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help you empathize and ultimately it'll
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help clearly communicate
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finally remember your job is to problem
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solve so make sure you understand
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company policies as written out in flow
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charts or manuals and know your product
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or services so when a customer asks you
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a question you are ready to respond
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remember customer service is a set of
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skills skills that can be practiced and
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learned that's how you can move from
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providing good customer service to Great
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customer service
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if you enjoyed this video make sure to
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download the indeed mobile app
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well you're in luck
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your luggage has been located
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[Music]
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by me
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welcome to hats and chats my name is
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Barb
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this is a hat and this is Jack